Mar 12, 2009

For me, the excitement typically starts months before at the bookstore with the purchase of two travel books: one for the traditionalist, one for the adventurous.

My walking pace quickens as I eagerly set home knowing hours of reading up and jotting down await me once I crack the spine on my new travel guides to learn about this year’s vacation spot and what I should see. Once that's done, I open the more adventurous of the two books to find locations that aren’t listed in the first book so I can add the 10 best off-the-beaten track locations to my list. I find the best way to explore a foreign city is to pass by things slowly, never quickly; always on foot, never by vehicle.

Walking provides me with the opportunity to find hidden, twisted alleyways where I may come upon a pub filled with locals who will strike up a conversion with me and give me more insight into what else I can walk to and what else I can discover.

Walking provides me with the opportunity to search out the steep, spiraling staircases away for the maddening crowds where step by step – and seemingly hours later – I’ll emerge at the top of a castle tower overlooking the city where I'll then cast my mind back to when kings and queens ruled and castles were attacked and defended.

Walking provides me with the opportunity to take extraordinary photographs of the ordinary or ordinary photographs of the extraordinary like broken trucks or old branches.

Those that know me know I’m passionate about photography; I’m passionate about travel; and I’m passionate about walking. I walk not just for physical activity, but also so that I know I can handle walk ing for hours . Doing so, I have been able to see foreign cities in more meaningful ways.